Holidays
The Chinese calendar year has nine main festivals, seven determined by the lunisolar calendar, and two derived from the solar agricultural calendar. (Farmers actually used a solar calendar, and its 24 terms, to determine when to plant crops, due to the inaccuracy of the lunisolar traditional calendar. However, the traditional calendar has also come to be known as the agricultural calendar.) The two special holidays are the Qingming Festival (about 15 days after the spring equinox) and the Winter Solstice Festival, falling upon the respective solar terms, at ecliptic longitudes of 15° and 270°, respectively. As for all other calendrical calculations, the calculations use civil time in China, UTC+08:00
| Date | English | Chinese | Vietnamese | Remarks | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| month 1 day 1 |
Chinese New Year (Spring Festival) |
春節 chūnjié |
Tết Nguyên Đán (元旦) |
Family gathering and festivities for 3–15 days | Feb 7 | Jan 26 | Feb 14 | Feb 3 | Jan 23 | Feb 10 |
| month 1 day 15 |
Lantern Festival (Chap Goh Mei) |
元宵節 yuánxiāojié |
Tết Thượng Nguyên (上元) |
|
Feb 21 | Feb 9 | Feb 28 | Feb 17 | Feb 6 | Feb 24 |
| April 4 or 5 |
Qingming Festival (Clear and Bright) |
清明節 qīngmíngjié |
Tết Thanh Minh (清明) |
Tomb sweeping | Apr 4 | Apr 4 | Apr 5 | Apr 5 | Apr 4 | Apr 4 |
| month 5 day 5 |
Dragon Boat Festival | 端午節 duānwǔjié |
Tết Đoan Ngọ (端午) |
Dragon boat racing and zongzi eating | Jun 8 | May 28 | Jun 16 | Jun 6 | Jun 23 | Jun 12 |
| month 7 day 7 |
Night of Sevens | 七夕 qīxī |
Thất tịch | For lovers, like Valentine's Day | Aug 7 | Aug 26 | Aug 16 | Aug 6 | Aug 23 | Aug 13 |
| month 7 day 15 (14 in some locations) |
Ghost Festival (Spirit Festival) |
中元節 zhōngyuánjié |
Tết Trung Nguyên (中元), or Le Vu Lan (禮盂蘭) |
Offer tributes and respect to the deceased | Aug 15 | Sep 3 | Aug 24 | Aug 14 | Aug 31 | Aug 21 |
| month 8 day 15 |
Mid-Autumn Festival (Moon Festival) |
中秋節 zhōngqiūjié |
Tết Trung Thu (中秋) |
Family gathering and moon cake eating | Sep 14 | Oct 3 | Sep 22 | Sep 12 | Sep 30 | Sep 19 |
| month 9 day 9 |
Double Ninth Festival (Double Yang) |
重陽節 chóngyángjié |
Tết Trùng Cửu (重九) |
Mountain climbing and flower shows | Oct 7 | Oct 26 | Oct 16 | Oct 5 | Oct 23 | Oct 13 |
| month 10 day 15 |
Peaceful Festival or Xia Yuan | 下元節 xiàyuánjié |
Tết Hạ Nguyên (下元) |
Pray for a peaceful year to the Water God | Nov 12 | Dec 1 | Nov 20 | Nov 10 | Nov 28 | Nov 17 |
| Dec 21 or 22 |
Winter Solstice Festival | 冬至 dōngzhì |
Lễ hội Đông Chí | Family gathering, eat Tong yuen | Dec 21 | Dec 21 | Dec 22 | Dec 22 | Dec 21 | Dec 21 |
| month 12 day 24 (23 in some locations) |
Kitchen God Festival | 謝灶 xièzào |
Tết Táo Quân (竈君) |
Worshipping the kitchen god with thanks | Jan 31 | Jan 19 | Feb 7 | Jan 27 | Jan 17 | Feb 4 |
Read more about this topic: Chinese Calendar